How a 1944 Supreme Court Case Legalized Religious Scams, Wellness Grifts, and Pyramid Schemes

In 1944, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a decision that laid the foundation for religious scammers to raise unfathomable fortunes through fraud. The ruling effectively gave religious leaders the legal right to sell miracle cures, supernatural services, and snake oil remedies under the protective umbrella of "sincerely held beliefs." Fast forward 80 years, and that same legal precedent has helped fuel a booming industry of wellness influencers, spiritual gurus, and multi-level marketing schemes. Today, they crowd our social media feeds, promising divine transformations and quantum healing—if only you’ll click “subscribe.”

But how did we get here?